How to Add a Contact to Skype in Windows 8.1

The methods for adding Contacts vary depending on which version of Skype you’re using — Windows 8.1 Metro, Windows, iPad, Android, and so on. Before you can call someone, you have to make her an official Contact —which means you have to ask for, and receive, permission to call.

Here’s how to add a Contact in the old-fashioned desktop version of Skype:

Type to your heart’s content, and when you’re done with this and any other conversations, click or tap Skype→Sign Out.

To add a Contact in the tiled Metro version of Skype, go to the main Metro Skype page and right-click the main part of the screen, or swipe up from the bottom.

You see the App bar shown.

The basic sequence of steps are the same as if you were working in the (much more information-dense, and easier to navigate) old-fashioned desktop version of Skype.

In Metro Skype, some of the settings (your account picture, for example, or privacy settings) are hidden in the Settings charm on the right, and others (adding new Contacts, for example) are hidden in the App bar.